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The Titans are the best team in the AFC after a flukey weekend of losses from the great teams?
Contributors
Santiago Leon – @sleon
Ryan Christa – @maddawgreport
Falcons 27 Saints 25
Matt Ryan’s last and longest of several deep completions spared the Atlanta Falcons from another infamous collapse.
Ryan hit Cordarrelle Patterson for a 64-yard gain with a minute left to set up Younghoe Koo’s 29-yard field goal as time expired, and Atlanta defeated mistake-prone New Orleans on Sunday after allowing the Saints to wipe out an 18-point, fourth-quarter deficit.
Ryan passed for 343 yards, connected twice with Olamide Zaccheaus for touchdowns, and the veteran quarterback also ran for a score on a bootleg as the Falcons (4-4) snapped the Saints’ three-game winning streak and prevented New Orleans (5-3) from moving into a tie with Tampa Bay (6-2) atop the NFC South.
Bills 6 Jaguars 9
LB Josh Allen vs QB JOsh Allen
Jacksonville had the better Allen on this Sunday, with the third-year pro intercepting a pass, making a sack and recovering a fumble in a 9-6 upset of the Bills that will go down as one of the best defensive efforts in franchise history.
Browns 41 Bengals 16
A week of drama turned into a day of domination for the Browns, who went to Cincinnati and left with a 41-16 win. Among the Browns’ keys to victory was a stellar performance by their secondary that included a 99-yard pick-six by Denzel Ward on the game’s first drive. Ward’s score was one of three touchdowns of at least 60 yards by the Browns, who improved to 5-4 on the season. Cincinnati, who two weeks ago was the AFC’s top-seeded team, are now all alone in last place in the AFC North standings.
Baker Mayfield had one of the best games of his career. His biggest play was a 60-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones that stretched the Browns’ lead to 21-7. Nick Chubb’s 70-yard touchdown jaunt at the start of the second half gave Cleveland a 31-10 lead. The Browns’ defense was led by Ward, Troy Hill and Myles Garrett. Hill had three sacks, the most ever by a Browns defensive back. Garrett had 1.5 sacks of the Browns’ five sacks of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
Broncos 30 Cowboys 16
Teddy Bridgewater threw for a touchdown and had a sneak for another, and the Broncos stymied the NFL’s No. 1 offense when it mattered in a 30-16 victory Sunday, ending the Cowboys’ six-game winning streak.
Javonte Williams had 17 carries for 111 yards, including a 20-yarder to kick-start Denver’s first scoring drive, which ended on Melvin Gordon’s 3-yard run. Gordon had 80 yards as the Broncos ran for 190 against the league’s sixth-best run defense.
All four teams in the AFC West are over .500 after 9 weeks
Texans 9 Dolphins 17
the Dolphins got 244 yards passing and a touchdown throw from surprise starter Jacoby Brissett on the way to beating the Houston Texans 17-9 on Sunday.
The game between two teams that entered with 1-7 records and both on seven-game losing streaks lived up – or down – to its billing. The Dolphins and Texans combined for nine turnovers. Miami had five, Houston four, and somehow the Dolphins (2-7) won anyway.
Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor returned after missing most of the season with a hamstring injury and was far from sharp. Taylor completed 24 of 43 passes for 240 yards, with three interceptions.
Raiders 16 Giants 23
Xavier McKinney returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown early in the second half and picked off another errant throw by Derek Carr late as the added to the Raiders’ post-bye woes with a 23-16 victory over Las Vegas on Sunday.
Daniel Jones threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Evan Engram and Graham Gano added three field goals – the last after McKinney’s second pick – for New York (3-6). Filling in for the injured Saquon Barkley, former Raider Devontae Booker ran for 99 yards before leaving late with a hip injury.
Carr threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow for the Raiders (5-3), who are an NFL-worst 3-16 after a week off over the last 19 years. The usually accurate quarterback also missed a wide-open Darren Waller for another score just before halftime as the Raiders settled for three short field goals by Daniel Carlson, who also missed a 25-yarder in the second half.
Patriots 24 Panthers 6
New England’s defense intercepted Darnold on three consecutive possessions in the second half — including one that J.C. Jackson returned 88 yards for a touchdown — and the New England Patriots cruised past the Carolina Panthers 24-6 on Sunday for their fourth win in the past five games.
Belichick is 4-0 against Darnold, and the quarterback has thrown nine interceptions and one touchdown pass in those outings.
Vikings 31 Ravens 34
Justin Tucker kicked a 36-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in overtime to give the Baltimore Ravens a 34-31 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. It was the 18th game-winning field goal for the star kicker, who made the longest kick in NFL history when he drilled a 66-yarder to beat Detroit in Week 3.
Once Devonta Freeman broke loose for a 19-yard run to the Minnesota 39, the Ravens were in decent shape to set up a field goal. They ended up getting a good bit closer.
Baltimore trailed 24-10 after Minnesota’s Kene Nwangwu ran the second-half kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown, but the Ravens rallied thanks to three big fourth-down conversions.
Chargers 27 Eagles 24
Herbert — who finished 32 of 38 for 356 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions (123.2 rating) — finished 5 of 6 for 37 yards on the final drive. He also converted a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-one to extend the drive.
Hurts had one of the finest performances of the season in the second half, going 7 of 8 for 112 yards with a touchdown to keep the Eagles on pace with the high-octane Chargers offense.
Cardinals 31 49ers 17
James Conner ran for two touchdowns and caught a 45-yard TD pass from backup quarterback Colt McCoy as the short-handed Cardinals beat the 49ers 31-17 on Sunday.
The Cardinals (8-1) were playing without quarterback Kyler Murray and receivers DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green. They also lost running back Chase Edmonds in the first quarter, but they still had little trouble completing the season sweep against the 49ers (3-5).
Packers 7 Chiefs 13
The new pressure-filled plan worked against Jordan Love, though. The Chiefs brought the heat just about every down, and the Packers were unable to counter it until the fourth quarter. Kansas City hung on for a 13-7 victory that snapped Green Bay’s seven-game winning streak.
Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week, forcing the three-time All-Pro to miss his first game since the 2017 season. Love responded by going 19 of 34 for 190 yards with a touchdown and an interception, both coming in the fourth quarter as the Packers tried to rally from a 13-0 deficit against the defending AFC champs.
Patrick Mahomes was just 20 of 37 for 166 yards — his fewest in a full game in his career — along with a touchdown pass to Travis Kelce. And while the Chiefs (5-4) managed just 237 yards of total offense, that was enough to edge above .500.
Titans 28 Rams 16
Los Angeles played host to “Sunday Night Football” in Week 9, but Sunday’s prime-time affair belonged almost exclusively to the visiting Titans. While Ryan Tannehill and an offense featuring Adrian Peterson among fill-ins for the injured Derrick Henry did not always explode, Tennessee’s defense definitely did, with Jeffery Simmons and Co. disrupting Matthew Stafford early and often to headline a 28-16 rout at SoFi Stadium.
Tennessee has now won five straight to improve to 7-2, perhaps solidifying itself as the new favorite in the AFC. The Rams, meanwhile, are now 7-2 and officially behind the red-hot Cardinals in the NFC West.
Predictions
CHI-PIT
RC: 20-10 PIT
USA-MEX
RC: USA
Santiago Leon is the Founder and CEO of the Sports Cast. He covers NFL, NBA, and world soccer. He’s also founder of sleon productions, which he specializes in technology and serves clients with solutions to make their business grow.